Under a Veiled Moon (An Inspector Corravan Mystery)

As an Irishman in Scotland Yard, Michael Corravan must always be ready to prove himself. It’s the late 1870s, and England is rife with anti-Irish sentiment. When a mass tragedy finds links to the Irish Republican Brotherhood, he finds himself walking a treacherous path. How far must he go to ensure justice is done?

That is not the only mystery in this book, however. From the very first, there are mysterious deaths, and Michael’s young foster brother seems to be getting involved with matters far over his head. Odden weaves together these threads in a way that will keep readers curious and guessing to the end and fleshes them out with lots of rich historical detail.

What I loved most, though, was the interpersonal aspect. It’s sadly still a common trope in detective novels to have every character but the detective and the murderer be at most half a person, a cardboard stand-in to fill a necessary space. Odden gives even her secondary characters much-needed life, making even the scenes unconnected to the mystery a delight to read.